BSP Drafts a 12-Month Freeze on New Payment-Operator Licenses and Groups Crypto Exchanges With Casinos
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas circulated a draft circular on September 7 titled "Regulations to Strengthen Integrity Controls in Payment Transactions" that would suspend new Operator of Payment System (OPS) applications for 12 months while the central bank conducts what it called a "holistic review" of the OPS taxonomy and licensing framework. Applications submitted before the freeze takes effect will continue to be evaluated but cannot be approved or denied until the suspension lifts. The draft, signed by Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr., leaves its effective date and Monetary Board resolution number blank at time of reporting; it takes effect 15 days after publication.
The circular also requires virtual asset service providers to be onboarded only through direct merchant arrangements with enhanced due diligence, monitoring, and transaction limits — the same treatment applied to casinos, online gambling operators, and money service businesses, all now classified as high-risk merchants with no payment facilitators or aggregators permitted. The Philippines' five currently licensed VASPs — Coins.ph, PDAX, Maya Philippines, Moneybees Forex, and UnionBank — keep their existing authorizations; the draft does not revoke any certificate or name individual firms for sanctions. A parallel National QR Code Merchant Database would track merchant identifiers, ownership, and sanctions status, with an interim repository live within 90 days and full migration within 15 months. The proposal layers onto an existing VASP licensing moratorium in place since September 2025.
Malaysia's SC and Bursa Report a Record Investor-Fair Turnout as New CDS Accounts Jump 24%
The Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia held their first joint investor-education fair, InvestSmart x Bursa Marketplace, on September 5-6 at Pavilion Bukit Jalil Exhibition Centre, officiated by Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Johan Mahmood Merican under the theme "Smart Investing for Everyone." The two regulators disclosed that more than 342,000 new Central Depository System accounts were opened in the first half of 2026, up roughly 24% from the same period in 2025, with investors aged 35 and under accounting for about 60% of the new accounts. Roughly 40 exhibitors — regulators, financial institutions, listed companies, and crowdfunding platforms — took part.
The SC also disclosed fraud-related figures for January-July 2026: 1,272 inquiries seeking to verify investment opportunities and 530 complaints from scam victims, with verification inquiries making up about 70.6% of the combined total. The fair included a dedicated Anti-Scam Zone, free consultations under the FinPlan4u initiative, and a Financial Education Network pavilion tied to Malaysia's National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2026-2030. SC chairman Dato' Mohammad Faiz Azmi said the event aimed to "improve access to trusted financial information," while Bursa Malaysia CEO Dato' Fad'l Mohamed framed it as bringing "market experts, listed companies and financial institutions under one roof."
Cushman & Wakefield Forecasts $15.9 Billion in Thai Data-Centre Investment Through 2030
Cushman & Wakefield's Asia Pacific Data Centre Investment report, published September 7, projects Thailand will attract approximately $15.9 billion (570 billion baht) in data-centre investment between 2026 and 2030. The firm's core investment thesis rests on a supply deficit relative to population: Thailand has 514,587 people for every megawatt of operational colocation capacity, against an Asia-Pacific average of 247,713 people per megawatt, and pre-leasing activity has risen ninefold year-on-year. Cushman & Wakefield ranks Thailand third in the region for potential Yield on Cost, behind only Singapore and Vietnam, with unlevered yields projected to exceed 10%.
The report estimates the colocation leasing sector alone could generate more than $3 billion (107 billion baht) annually in recurring revenue by 2030. It also cites a landmark $880 million (31.7 billion baht) green loan secured in 2026 for a joint data-centre development between Digital Edge and B.Grimm Power as evidence of financing appetite already materializing. The forecast lands alongside, but does not directly address, Thailand's separate regulatory tightening on data-centre construction and grid access disclosed earlier this month.
Eyes on the Day Ahead
Thailand's SEC consultation on retail access to overseas crypto derivatives and Singapore's MAS consultation on its stablecoin licensing framework both remain open, closing September 30 and October 16 respectively — both are worth tracking for early signals on which foreign venues or issuers might qualify. In the Philippines, the BSP's draft OPS circular has no confirmed publication date yet; its 15-day countdown to taking effect starts only once it is formally published.
Layer 7 Ventures is a research-driven firm focused on AI and cryptocurrency in Southeast Asia. Views expressed are those of the firm and do not constitute investment advice.
